Sunday, August 23, 2015

Where Have All the Spiveys Gone?

I haven’t mentioned the Spivey twins
lately, have I? For those of you who don’t know them, Shirley and Mercy Spivey
are my late grandmother’s cousins. That makes them my cousins once or twice
removed. Or as Granny used to say, the further removed the better. To give you
an idea of what Shirley and Mercy are like, no one involved in the yarn-bombing
planned for later this week has breathed a word to the Spiveys about it.
Actually, we haven’t breathed a word to anyone about it. Yarn-bombing is a form
of graffiti, and graffiti is best done after dark and on the sly.

The Spiveys have a way of finding
things out, though. Finding things out and then making them murkier. For
instance, they claim to have seen someone with Hugh McPhee the afternoon before
he died, but they went all cagey and sly when I asked them who it was. Here’s
how that exchange went:

Shirley: “You can’t let anyone know we
told you what we’re about to tell you.”

Mercy: “You’ll be painting bull’s eyes
on our backs if you do.”

Shirley: “It was Al.”

Me: “Who?”

Mercy: “From Chicago.”

The way she said “From Chicago” made
it sound as though the guy’s last name must be Capone. I had no idea who they
were talking about – whispering about – and when I said so, they wouldn't tell me anything else. They just acted disgusted
and left.

Great. I could ignore that information.
I could tell myself that Shirley and Mercy were exaggerating the danger they’d
be in if someone found out they told me they’d seen Hugh McPhee with “Al from
Chicago.” I could forget I saw the twins and forget I heard their whispered
fears. But have you ever tried ignoring something the Spiveys have said? I
have, and believe me, it doesn’t work. Spivey words are ear worms. They’re like
those songs you don’t want to hear, because if you do, you’ll hum them without
ceasing for the next week and a half.

But the main thing to remember is that
Spiveys are Spiveys. They’re prone to exaggeration, misinterpretation, and
manipulation. So, although they might
be worried, the yarn bomb squad and I don’t see any reason to cancel our plans
for Thursday night. Ardis, Thea, Ernestine, John, Joe, and I – and maybe even
Geneva – are going to brighten Blue Plum with stripes and strips of knitting
and crochet. I wish you could come with us. You can, vicariously, by reading Knot the Usual Suspects when it comes
out September 1st. You can also plan your own yarn bomb foray, and here’s
something to help you get started: I have one advance reading copy (ARC) of Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit
Graffiti by Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain to give away. Tell me in a comment
what kind of yarn bomb you think it would be fun to create, and you’ll have a
chance to win the ARC. Need some yarn bomb inspiration? Google “yarn bomb” and
you’ll be blown away.

Yes! Cool idea, Sue. Have you seen the elaborate knitted skeleton created by fiber artist Ben Cuevas? You can find a link to it on my Weaver's Cat Pinterest board. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/142989356891530741/ Thanks for stopping by Killer Characters today!

This isn't exactly a yarn bomb, but in a way it is. I saw where in one town where people knitted and crocheted scarves and placed them around and in trees downtown so that homeless people could take them and the scarves would help keep them warm. That would be so cool if every town had that.

Somebody should yarn bomb the mermaid in front of the Walgreens in our town. She looks so cold in the fall and winter.The link to our Mermaid statue: https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4054/4417051781_0c1024e5ce_b.jpg

Oh, I know what I would do! There is a wooden carved statue of a man on the main floor of the library in Eau Claire, Wisconsin that I would crochet a loin cloth for! I always thought his privates needed to be covered and not exposed to my children. Great idea! Better than the bandaid I always wanted to put on it.

I would but I don't live there anymore. I visited that library very often when my kids were little. We would check out up to 50 books at a time. That statue always bugged me. They censored books but had that explicit statue there for all the kids to see. And placed prominently at the end of an aisle as you came in the door. He needed a bandaid!

I just got a chance to read your posting and went to post my answer and find out that the contest is over already. Darn. Well, anyway, I can't knit or crochet any more due to severe arthritis and also very bad skin which yarn and thread make worse, but yarn bombing sounds like fun.

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